| "The Silent Visitors" | ||
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Project Capricorn Facility May 28, 2008 0010 hours Carter sipped his coffee and sat back studying the progress Brian had made. He was amazing, the boy, how well he had grasped the idea and purposes of the project, how he accepted what Carter told him as truth. Carter believed, that impressing Brian was difficult but important, and he believed he had done just that. Had tweaked an interest deep in the brilliant mind of the young boy, enough so that he was fully cooperative. He had been at the Capricorn facility all evening and Brian had gone to bed hours ago. The Goons were busy doing perimeter marches or whatever the hell they did this late at night. It was weird at first, he had to admit, having them lurking about, but they hardly said anything, and didn't bother him or Brian, so they more of less just blended into the background now. He heard the lab door open but assumed it was just the Goons. But there was more than one person. He turned to look almost spilling his coffee. "What the hell is this?" he asked getting up. Four more Goons entered the facility, along with two from the original crew. Two of the new Goons were carrying people, a male and a female who were both unconscious. There were also others, three others, not dressed in black and carrying equipment. Two other new Goons were pushing more equipment and Carter caught a glimpse of oxygen tanks and a crash cart. "Just what the hell is going on here?" he demanded walking quickly over to the figures. Madeline walked in behind all of them, escorted by another plain clothes man. "Madeline," Carter went over to her. "What is this?" She ignored him turning her attention to the man next to her. "You can set up in the back lab, put the other one in the back room and guard him. The man nodded and walked away. Carter ran his hands through his hair. "What's going on?" "Good evening, Dr. Carter," she smiled warmly at him. "Good evening? Are you kidding - who are these people?" "I know it must be startling to see this but they are here to help you." "Voluntarily?" "Doc Carter?" They both turned to see Brian standing in the doorway on the opposite end of the lab. He looked out of place as he stood there in a Spiderman t-shirt and navy blue sweats rubbing his eyes. "It's alright Brian, go back to sleep." The young boy through a suspicious look at Madeline, nodded solemnly, and turned to go back to his room. Well, it was actually the kitchen but they had converted it nicely into a room for him. "Who are they?" Carter demanded from Madeline. "The young woman is Paige Casey, she used to work for me. The young man is her friend...and a bargaining chip." She seemed to throw out that last statement so casually, "a bargaining chip? For what?" "When I heard about your data being destroyed and your files being stolen, I did a little investigating of my own. I believe the individual that stole your files gave them to the young woman." Carter shook his head, "she has the files on her?" "Not exactly on her...in her. In her mind to be exact." Carter scoffed but when Madeline did not smile he checked himself. "What does that mean?" "Paige has photographic memory with an almost one hundred percent recall. I believe she was given your files." "But why, I mean who would do that?" Madeline shrugged, a gesture Carter believed didn't usually come from one of her stature. "There are people, organizations, that work above of the laws that govern the rest of us." She looked to him. "That work against people like me." "Why? I don't understand," he shook his head. "The man that broke into your labs heads up one of these organizations. My guess is that he tends to exploit the Capricorn technology for his own purposes." The man...the big guy. That was one person Carter did not want to meet. "What kind of purposes?" "Well," she smiled uneasily, "let's just say I don't think he would be using it to rid the world of cancer." That was one person Carter wanted to meet even less now. His mind reeled. The Capricorn technology in the wrong hands could send the world into chaos. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach and regretted drinking those two mugs of coffee. "So what now? What is all that equipment for?" "That's a fair question. Ironically enough, Paige has a GPS tracker embedded in her neck." Carter's mouth dropped open. "But that would lead Him right here." "Yes, it would. But we've kept frequency jammers around her during transport in case he activated it. The people you saw come in with me are permanently disabling it now." "Jesus christ," Carter ran his hand through his hair. "I can't believe this...I didn't think it would get out of hand like this." "This is a very lucrative technology you're working on. It could make a lot of difference to a lot of people." "But what if this maniac finds out somehow...what if he comes here?" "I have two security teams, I assure you that they will keep you safe. However, it would be prudent to complete the project as soon as you can." Complete the project...then get the hell out of here. Or get that girl out of here. Carter shook his head a little trying to clear his thoughts. "Brian has made a tremendous amount of progress and if I had those files..." "Paige is a scientist, she can help, too." Carter was suddenly very anxious to get the project over with. "When will she be ready to give me the files...or whatever she does." Madeline took a small breath. "She trusts him, he's been close to her for some time. I need to speak with her, convince her to help us." "And if she doesn't?" "Then we'll use her friend as a bargaining chip. His life...for the files." "You're gonna kill him?" "It's a little too late to have a conscience now, Dr. Carter." "I never agreed to kidnapping...much less killing!" he hissed at her. "It no longer matters what you agreed to. This is the position we find ourselves in. Perhaps if you had been honest with me from the beginning and told me about the files earlier I could have avoided this. But you left me no choice. This is where we are. I suggest you deal with it." With that she turned and walked away towards the back lab. Carter just let out a shuddered breath. Everything was going to hell. "Doc Carter? Who were those people?" "Brian," Carter got down on his knee. "You're supposed to be sleeping." "Who are they?" he asked again. "They're here to help us. They have more information for us, for Capricorn." "Why were they unconscious?" "They had a little accident. But Madeline brought in doctors to help them and they'll be ok by morning. Ok?" Brian nodded but Carter could tell the boy wasn't buying his story. He was much too sharp to believe it. "Listen Brian, we have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. I'm going to have the extrapolated data soon so I want you to get some sleep and we'll start working on the delivery mechanism in the morning." Brian sighed, "okay." Carter stood as the boy shuffled away then turned around back to him, "can we have hot dogs for breakfast?" Carter smiled, "how about cereal for breakfast, we'll have hot dogs for lunch." Brian grinned then made his way back to his room humming some song. Carter took a deep breath and made his way to the back lab. He entered it quietly. It wasn't that big to begin with and now with five or so people, plus Madeline, now himself, it was quite cramped. "They've disabled the tracker already, they're trying to wake her up," Madeline whispered to him. Carter nodded and watched as the doctors, or whatever they were, spoke softly, calling the young woman's name. She apparently was waking up because she was moving a little and they were putting her through various tests. Neurological tests he noted. One of the men walked over to them and handed Madeline a small clear plastic bag. "If it was transmitting anything...it isn't anymore," he said softly. "How is she?" Madeline asked. "A little groggy but awake. Her neurological system is intact. We found two large contusions on her back consistent with blunt trauma, it looks like two gun shots through kevlar. There were also several smaller bruises along her shoulders but they are much older. We also found seven stitches in her head above her right ear, it looks to be only a couple days old and we xrayed her right arm to determine the nature of the cast." "Did she speak at all, tell you anything?" Madeline asked. "Short answers, slow responses, but she's just waking up. Give her a few minutes and you..." the man looked to Carter briefly then back to Madeline, "you can 'talk' to her. We weren't able to assess her memory as of yet." "Thank you, check on the other one, make sure he's comfortable," Madeline said and turned to Carter. "You must be wondering about the condition she's in?" "That's an understatement." "She's a field operative, it's not unusual for those in her line of work to have such bruises and broken bones. I wouldn't be surprised if she was involved in destroying your data in Pennsylvania." Carter's eyes widened as the man that had spoken to them left with others in tow, leaving only one left with the girl. "If she did...then I want to talk to her." "You'll have plenty of time to talk to her. I need to speak with her first alone. Do you still have the video taken from your DC lab?" "It's at the base,why?" "I'd like you to get it. It will help me gaining Paige's cooperation." "It will take me about 45 minutes." "Good." Madeline smiled softly but Carter knew when he was being dismissed. He glanced once more at the girl before leaving the small lab. Return |
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